Atomic Lunch in Los Alamos, NM

September 2015

I made Don take a little detour on our western road trip.  We didn't exactly have a dining adventure in Los Alamos, but we picked up some lunch there.

Why Los Alamos?

I was curious.  I had just read the book, The Wives of Los Alamos.  I was curious about this community that grew on the top of a desert plateau, where wives mostly raised families and husbands secretly created the atomic bomb.  As we pulled into town, I made Don stop so I could take a photo and text it to my book club.  Then I got on TripAdvisor, and looked for a place to catch a quick lunch.

Chili Works

In a town that now has a population of over 17,000, you'd think we could have come up with something better.  But it was drizzling and there was some frustrating traffic and we were hungry.  So we trusted the good reviews for this hole in the wall joint and headed over for carryouts.  

Creepy?

​Well, sort of.  But there were a lot of regulars rushing in and out.  Some looked like office workers carrying lunch for a crowd. That's usually a good sign.

Through Screen Doors

I like a place with screen doors.  The green one lead into the tiny ordering place. The other door opened to a small, crowded patio.  

Placing My Order... Quickly

The man at the tiny window did not look patient.  He was not in the mood for any hesitation, so I asked no questions and ordered the breakfast burrito and a beef burrito.  I had read good reviews, after all.   

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I was very brave and snapped a quick picture, which does not capture the bustling activity in the crowded kitchen.  Oh well.

Burrito Picnic
Don and I headed out of town and found a lovely spot in a State Park, with a self- pay fee-box, to pay for our park usage. 

We didn't have any small bills, so we figured we'd just rush our unpaid picnic by splitting the breakfast burrito... which was lukewarm at this point.  They should have called it the green pepper burrito.  We kept digging down to see if there was egg anywhere?

Burrito #2 in a Cave

That evening we arrived at our Kokopelli Cave Hotel and toted our burrito in a paper bag and a couple backpacks down the rocky pathway to our cave house entrance.  We stopped earlier and bought some salad fixings and wine and thought we'd heat up that second burrito for a taste treat.  After each taking a bite we had the same reaction. "It tastes metallic!"  We were convinced the burrito was atomic and put it in the trash. 

Lab Tricks?

I'm sorry, Los Alamos.  I tried to embrace your town and support a local establishment. But I can't say we had a good food experience. Of course, we don't really believe our burritos were atomic, but I was reminded of a LAB FOOD story from over 35 years ago... 

Don was working in a chemical lab in St. Louis when we were first married. He and a few co-workers had some fun with a White Castle burger one day.  Don came home and laughed about how they put the burger in a container and purged it with a little nitrogen to make it airtight.  Their experiment was to see if any "self-respecting mold" would grow on the ultimate junk food.  

So hopefully no ex-lab worker got a job at The Chili Works! Science geeks can have a very funny sense of humor.